Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has long argued for a simpler version of what he calls the “dreaded” Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. The soon-to-be retired senator may finally get his wish to reduce the intimidating 108-question aid application to one with a mere 33 questions.

The change is long overdue.

For many years, Alexander, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, has lobbied for simplifying the form that millions of college students and their parents struggle to complete in hopes of receiving financial aid for school. As he has done several times in the past, the senator used the committee’s last scheduled hearing of the year to once again unfurl the lengthy form in one hand, while holding the much-shorter proposed form in another.

The demonstration may finally pay off for the longtime education advocate as the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said she supports the idea. The proposal in the past has been blocked by Democrats’ push for other education reforms, but Alexander’s quest for simplicity could be his farewell gift from the committee.

It couldn’t come at a better time for college students, according to Alexander, who told the committee that some 20 million students and their families “are in the midst of what is likely the strangest first semester of college in a century.

“Almost everything has changed for students, except for one thing — students still have to answer 108 questions on the dreaded FAFSA form,” he said.

The coronavirus pandemic has many students rethinking college this year because of the likelihood of online classes. The intimidating financial form serves only to push even more potential students away from a college education.

The publication Inside Higher Education reported that 1.2 million people start a FAFSA application each year and never finish it. That translates into $2.6 billion in federal Pell Grants that graduating high school students left unclaimed in 2018.

What’s worse is that many of those who give up on the application process come from lower-income families who are most in need of financial assistance.

A simplified application form that makes it easier for students most in need to obtain education grants is a commonsense change that should have been made years ago. It’s time to make it happen.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)